Planning: Do's and Don'ts of design

In order to create a convincing and professional looking digipak and advert we were given a guide of dos and don'ts to follow.

Do:

• Use clear fonts and photos in an appropriate size/shape.
• Use a layout that follows the rule of thirds for composition.
• Appropriate font that follows genre conventions; position text to conform to conventions
• Follow the three colour rule and choose colours that are appropriate for images, font and backgrounds.
• Think carefully about how you use and intergrate images, font, text and language. (anchoring meaning putting images with text)
•  Use approprate industry logos, conventions properly positioned. 

Dont:

• Stretch images.
• Use Layer styles.
• Use effects that do not fit the genre.
• Place text across artists face.
• Use a font because you 'like it'
• Feel the need to use separate images on each panel.

The guide above has helped me get an idea of what I want my digipak and advert to look like and how to avoid them looking unprofessional and non-conventional. It will be useful using these pointers when creating a mock up of both digipak and advert, and could also make creating the final drafts easier as many key points will have already been included in them.